Source: The New Paper
THE five youths were facing up to 20 years in jail after they claimed trial to charges of rape and sexual assault of a 17-year-old girl.
But in a surprising twist yesterday morning, they pleaded guilty to one charge each of aggravated outrage of modesty.
The victim had earlier been giving her testimony via video-conference behind closed doors.
Then the decision was taken to abort the trial. No reason was given in court yesterday.
The five accused – Muhammad Shafie Ahmad Abdullah, 19, Mohd Sadruddin Azman, 20, Lim Boon Tai, 21, Rishi Mohan, 18, and Mohamed Firdaus Roslan, 19, – committed the offence between 4am and 6am on Dec 26, 2008.
Their trial began on Nov 17, 2009, almost a year after their arrests on Dec 30, 2008.
The courtroom was packed yesterday and it was a sea of black in the lawyers’ arena as the seven lawyers representing the five accused took their places beside the three deputy public prosecutors (DPPs).
About 35 friends and supporters of the youths filled the public gallery to the brim.
In the dock, the accused remained expressionless as graphic details of how they took turns to sexually assault the victim were read aloud in court.
Occasionally, they looked down to check their own copy of the statement of facts.
Lim even took the chance to ask the court to amend one part of the statement.
The case was later adjourned for their mitigation.
Shafie and Sadruddin have been in remand since their arrest. The other three are out on bail.
Each faces up to 10 years in jail and caning for aggravated outrage of modesty, compared to 20 years jail with caning if they had been convicted of rape and sexual assault.
For the victim, it was the nightmare after Christmas when the five youths took advantage of her drunken state and sexually assaulted her for about two hours.
Three of them took turns to have sex with her, while the remaining two made her perform oral sex on them.
The girl was left bleeding after the vicious attack and was so nauseated that she retched over a toilet bowl.
A psychiatrist who examined her after the incident said she developed post-traumatic stress disorder as a result.
Yesterday, the court was told that around 11pm on Christmas night in 2008, the girl left her boyfriend’s home after spending the day with him.
She was heading home on a bus when she received a phone call from Lim, who identified himself as “Jonathan”.
Lim, then a full-time national serviceman, lied that he was her schoolmate and invited her to have supper with him in Woodlands.
He had got her number from another accused, whom the girl knew.
One of the accused persons met her at Woodlands bus interchange after midnight and they took a taxi to Shafie’s flat in Block 723, Woodlands Avenue 6.
Shafie’s parents were away visiting relatives in Malaysia.
Seeing five other guys inside the flat, the girl was initially reluctant to enter, but eventually went in and sat near the door.
At Lim’s request, Shafie and Sadruddin left the flat to buy liquor. Firdaus left with them to meet his girlfriend.
When Shafie and Sadruddin returned with a bottle of vodka, three bottles of beer and two bottles of soft drinks, the group of five started playing card games and a game of Truth or Dare.
The forfeit? The loser had to drink a cup of vodka cocktail.
The girl ended up drinking more than five disposable plastic cups of the drink.
She felt her head spinning and her vision was affected.
Some time during the game, the girl was challenged to kiss Lim, but she refused.
Knock on the door
At that moment, Firdaus returned to the flat and knocked on the door.
The group panicked as they thought Shafie’s parents had returned. Lim then hid in Shafie’s bedroom with the girl.
Inside the bedroom, Lim made sexual advances towards her.
Said DPP Christina Koh: “The victim initially felt pressurised but she eventually became aroused and allowed (Lim) to have sex with her.”
Outside the room, the other five youths had their ears pressed against the door and were listening in on the couple.
Lim and the girl later came out. Around 4am, Lim carried the victim, who was resting on a wooden bench back into the bedroom.
The five accused persons gathered in the room, which was dark.
When Lim asked the girl to lie down beside him on a mattress on the floor, she said she did not want to.
But he pulled her down from the chair onto the mattress, lay beside her and started kissing her.
Someone then said “let’s start” and on hearing the cue, they stripped the girl.
Holding her head and legs down, they then took turns to sexually assault her.
They were so calm and cool in their savage attack that when one guy was done, he went to the toilet to wash up while the next guy took his place.
At times, she was even assaulted by two guys at the same time.
Her blood was found on the mattress, which was seized by investigators.
After the assault, Lim carried the naked girl and helped her to wash up in the toilet.
In the toilet, she “felt weak and numb and she leaned against the toilet bowl...and retched”.
Said DPP Koh: “At this time, she was scared and lost. She was also shivering and nauseous.”
Lim then gave her $10 to take a taxi home.
After returning home, the girl told her boyfriend about the assault and he called the police.
pui...
knn~~~
CUT THEIR KKJ~~~~
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=.=
WTh gal tio rape
charge is molest
Maybe the girl also anyhow one.
The girl confirm anyhow also.
Got bf liao, then someone call her & claims is her classmate she believe?
Then she still go meet him is already quite wrong.
Plus she start to drink with the guys.
Then she agreed to have sex with one of the guy.
Yes the guys are also in a wrong, but when a girl, who already got a bf agreed to slept with one of the guys, i'm sorry, they probably thinks she is indecent & is open up for sex.
both parties are in the wrong morally,
the males are wrong in a legal way.
Hopefully they'll learn their lessons
xD
idiots